Nearly 8% of middle aged and older people in the United States have myocardial scars suggestive of myocardial infarction, almost 80% of which have not been detected by electrocardiography or clinical evaluation, a study published in JAMA has found.1

The researchers wrote, “The clinical significance of unrecognized myocardial scar remains to be defined, although prior myocardial scar has been noted pathologically in more than 70% of patients with sudden cardiac death but without prior known coronary artery disease.”